LAS VEGAS — In a city where real and fake are so effortlessly intertwined as to attempt to obscure any difference between them, it’s not unreasonable to ask what parts of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final actually happened.
It can’t be that the Carolina Hurricanes, having been run all but run off the ice by the Vegas Golden Knights, scored four unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime and double overtime.
It can’t be that the comeback is now just a footnote in a 5-4 victory by the Vegas Golden Knights, the winning goal off a fluke bounce.
No. It was real. Every last bit of it.
Not a fake tan or plastic surgeon or mock landmark to be found.
The disallowed goals, the Mitch Marner hat trick, the Brandon Bussi appearance, the three goals in a Stanley Cup Final-record 39 seconds, the tying goal and, yes, a final goal that careened off the back boards and into the net behind Bussi more than five minutes into double overtime — the night’s fifth period.
Vegas leads the series 2-1. Game 4 is Tuesday in Las Vegas.
It was Carolina’s first overtime loss in this postseason.
The Hurricanes pulled starting goaltender Frederik Andersen for the third period. Bussi, a regular-season hero for the Hurricanes, got his first action of the entire postseason. Bussi stopped Marner on a penalty shot, and the Hurricanes responded with three goals in quick succession.
Jordan Martinook had the Hurricanes first goal at the 7:02 mark of the third period. Taylor Hall, off a pass from Sebastian Aho, had Carolina’s second goal at 7:29. And Jordan Staal capped the barrage with a tip-in goal at the 7:42 mark.
Andrei Svechnikov tied the game with 1:42 remaining on a power play goal that came amid pure chaos in front of — and behind — Vegas goaltender Carter Hart.
In each of the first two games, the winning team trailed by multiple goals.
The Hurricanes successfully challenged two Vegas goals in the first four minutes of the second period — or else it could have been even worse. The disallowed goals did little to stop the Vegas onslaught.
The Golden Knights responded with two goals in 14 seconds later in the period and then added a third off some individual brilliance from Mitch Marner.
The first good goal came on a power play after Carolina was called for too many men on the ice. Jack Eichel found Tomas Hertl, who had the game winner in Game 1, alone in front of the net.
Just moments later, Marner fired a backhander toward the net that Carolina defenseman Sean Walker attempted to play. Instead, it went off Walker’s stick and into the net with 9:18 remaining in the second period.
Less than four minutes later, Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped Marner on a breakaway. The Hurricanes, however, were unable to clear the zone and the puck found its way back to Marner, the biggest free agent acquisition in the league in the offseason, who wouldn’t be denied by Andersen a second time.
With 3:09 left in the period, Marner blasted a slap shot past Andersen for his third goal of the evening. Fans tossed hats onto the ice for the hat trick, about the only things that could delay the Vegas rush.
Early in the period, it was Carolina challenges that kept Vegas off the board. A Mark Stone goal was disallowed for a clear offside that preceded the goal. Minutes later, a goal by Jack Eichel was taken away for goalie interference. Ivan Barbashev hit Andersen in the head as he tried to cross the crease.
For a moment, it looked as if the officials might be on their way to being the biggest storyline in the series. Late in Game 2, Vegas unsuccessfully challenged a no-goal call, leading to a power play on which Carolina scored. Vegas coach John Tortorella said later he would challenge that call 10 times out of 10.
Brind’Amour said after Game 2 that his standard is absolute certainty on challenging goal-or-no-goal calls on the ice.
“When it’s called goal or no goal on the ice, it better be 100% your challenge,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s a rule we go by.”
In Game 2, Carolina became the first team since 1944 to win a Stanley Cup Final game after trailing by two goals with 10 minutes left in the third period. It’ll take another heroic effort in Game 3.
The Hurricanes entered the game 6-0 on the road in the playoffs.